The Opelousas courier., 1887-02-19

P : cUe Wien It's aQVarl-
tage as an article OF . assistance in needle
work came to be re, ,ognized, honor and
profit combined 10 } make John Loftipc
wealthy, and, of &C arse, other and i'm
proved manufactorit $ speedily followed.
1t was first known MS u thumblc, from
the words thumb .smd bell, and all
records say that it was originally worn on
The thumb, but it ses ms hardly conceiv-
able that it could have been of much
use there. Their they were made only
OF brass and iron, now We have seen
them composed Of stee !. silver, gold
horn, ivory, pearl and even glass.
But it has remained for the King of
S am to outstrip all competitors. Hav-
ing seen the English and American ladies
at his court using tkimhles, he was struck
with their benefit, and determined to
introduce them amongst his own people.
Even in Siam there e fashions, but
even in Siam there m nst be d female
leader for such articles. as these. But
the King being about to be married,
thought he would make. ais bride a pre-
sent that would solve, the difficulty.
The royal flower and in fact the impress
of everything about the court is the Lo-
tus, in pattern of which the King Or
dercd his present, ind the Queen Con-
sort of Sam owns, therefore, a gold
thimble shaped like q lotus bud, and
thickly studded with diamonds, which
are SO arranged as to for.n the lady's
name and the date of her marriage. As
the Siamese language is by no means de-
icient in words and signs it may, there
fore, be readily understoe d that the dia-
monds are plentiful, and the thiu,ble
unwearably large. San francisco CaM.
Fashion Notes.
No feathers are used or the newest
bonnets and turbans.
Brown in light shades is the f~avorite
color for boucele jackets.
The hair will probably badresscd high
for this and another season.
Some of the new PIN hes are marvcls
in the manner in which the pile is cut.
The most becoming furs arc those
which have q shade of brown in them.
White velvet and white plush bon
nets are again in vogue for evening
wear.
Ostrich tips and 1uarabouts arc the
only feathers correctly worn in the eve
ming.
Heliotrope plush trims and covers
many very handsome high turbans Or
~caftans.
Silk stockings in moss-green, hello
trope and yellow are largely imported for
evening wear.
Fringes composed of balls of furs
strung together are used for trimming
small mantles.
The one-piecc English frock is still
the f~avoritc model for little girls, but it
is capable Of many variations.
The old fashioned black astrachan
furs, in both the curly and longer, wavy-
fceced varieties, is worn again.
Ivory white satin duchesse for fronts
or panels has a ~self-colorcd brocaded
design of large ostrich plumes.
Pockets arc applied m dresses high
up on the hips, and are deliberately
trimmed with passementerie or embroi-
derry.
Plush stripes. with a winding design
upon a satin ground, are bordered on
either side by a faille stripe on a velvet
ground.
Soft finished net has phantom-like
arabesque designs ON the ground,
with silk and wool embroidered figures
of large size.
Sleeves of a different color and mate
rial from the bodice are worn. With a
.polonaise overdress the sleeves cores
pond to the materials of the skirt.
Goats of harmonizing colors, but not
matching the costume, are popular.
Suede, chaudron, dark blue, brown and
green are the colors most used for this
purpose.
Striped and plaid curled plush is used
with plain velvet or plush in three COM
binations. Rich and effective COM
binations are golden brown or dark
brown ground and serpent on a dark
ground.
Velvet and plush turbans are made Of
a single piece of the material, which is
loosely folded over the crown, rising
much higher at the front than at tho
back, and serving as q support for loops
of ribbon or feather aigrettcs used there
as trimming.
Doctors In Russia.
The Russians are not in all respects a
nation to be initiated, but there are some